In not remotely surprising but nevertheless very welcome news, Dominic Cooper has just been added to the cast of Marvel’s upcoming ABC series Agent Carter. Cooper, you’ll recall, played Howard Stark in Captain America: The First Avenger and reprised the role for the Marvel One-Shot Agent Carter.

This summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy was perhaps Marvel’s funniest, most colorful, most playful offering ever. But the studio’s next release looks deadly serious. ABC has just revealed the new Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 trailer, which hints at dark times ahead for our heroes. The organization was shaken to its core last season by the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Season 2 has the team continuing to deal with the fallout.

The latest promo features a grim speech from Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) about sacrifice and protecting the innocent, all over tons of new footage. It also begins and ends with shots of Coulson gazing unhappily out the window, all the better to impress upon you the gravity of the situation. Hit the jump to watch the new Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 trailer.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t quite the runaway success that ABC had hoped for, but the network isn’t giving up on Marvel just yet. To the contrary, it’s thinking of doubling down.

A new report indicates that Agent Carter may bypass the pilot stage and go straight to series, debuting sometime during the (as yet unannounced) second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. More details after the jump.

ABC’s The Goldbergs is all about the ’80s — the fashions, the TV shows, the technologies, the toys. So it was only a matter of time before they got around to paying their respects to one of the era’s most treasured cinematic entertainments, 1985’s The Goonies.

In Tuesday night’s episode, Adam (Sean Giambrone) gets the opportunity to live out his Goonies fantasies when he gets caught up in a treasure hunt. He calls upon the help of his friends and family, assigning each person a Goonies counterpart to model themselves after — including, naturally, the distant acquaintance that Adam enlists to fill the token Asian role. Awkward. Preview the episode after the jump.

As American Hustle tears through the movie awards circuit, director David O. Russell has his sights set on another medium. ABC has just given a straight-to-series order for a new drama series from Russell, about the goings-on at a country club. Russell co-wrote the story and will executive produce alongside Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman (Justified, Elementary). More details after the jump.

S.H.I.E.L.D. is getting a visit from a big-screen superhero for the very first time. Marvel announced at ABC’s TCA winter press tour that Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander), Thor’s warrior buddy from both of his standalone films, will be making an appearance on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the near future.

This won’t be the TV show’s first run-in with Asgard. The season’s eighth episode, titled “The Well,” was timed to coincide (roughly) with the release of Thor: The Dark World, and centered on the aftermath of events seen in the film. It happens that Alexander’s guest spot also doubles as Thor: The Dark World promotion — the DVD/Blu-ray hits shelves February 25.

Plot specifics are being kept under wraps for now, of course. Marvel would say only that Sif would drop down to Earth from Asgard “with a very specific mission.” Lady Sif’s visit is being shot right now, and will air as the 15th episode of the season. [Screen Crush]

After the jump, Marvel’s new TV project Agent Carter picks up a couple of writers.

As a 71-year-old man who’s played both Han Solo and Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford ought to be pretty tough to amaze. Sure, it’s not like he was battling real space aliens or actual Nazis, but he’s been a rich, powerful icon of Hollywood long enough to see some crazy stuff. And yet, apparently not even he is immune to the charms of an expertly executed card trick.

Magician David Blaine has been stopping by celeb homes to perform illusions for his recent TV special David Blaine: Real or Magic. Most have responded with great enthusiasm, but arguably the best reaction is Ford’s. Watch the clip after the jump.

AMC’s doing it, Showtime’s doing it, and now ABC’s doing it, too. The Alphabet is looking into a spinoff based on one of its biggest hits, the Emmy-winning Modern Family.

The possible series is still in the very early planning stages, and the network has not yet settled on a concept. However, one of the ideas being tossed around is a comedy centered on Rob Riggle‘s character Gil Thorpe. Between this and the Dumb and Dumber To news, the former fake new reporter is having a pretty great week. Hit the jump for all the details.

Pixar’s second release of 2013 is coming soon to a TV near you. Disney announced today that the 30-minute special Toy Story of Terror will premiere just in time for Halloween, appropriately enough on ABC.

As for what we can expect from the Angus MacLane-directed project, the studio has shown the first ten minutes at this weekend’s D23. Hit the jump to get a recap of the footage, as well as plot details and more.

Briefly: We’ve known for some time now that ABC’s awkwardly titled yet highly anticipated Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would air on Tuesdays this fall. Heck, ABC’s actually building the entire evening around that one promising new show, rather than anchoring the night with a returning favorite. Now, happily, we can get a little more specific.

The network has just announced that Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will premiere September 24 at 8 PM. The comic book drama kicks off an exciting evening that includes three other freshman debuts: The Goldbergs at 9, Trophy Wife at 9:30, and Lucky 7 at 10. For the rest of ABC’s fall schedule, click here.